doping and cycling
I like bikes. I don't ride mine enough, so I live vicariously through reading about other people riding theirs and watching TV. In honor of this problem and the fact my health is a valid excuse right now Lori recorded a recent episode of "Intervention" on A&E. Well, A&E HD actually!
It's a show about drug addicts that family and/or friends stage an intervention for to get them off drugs. It's a pretty surreal show, but this time it was about Chad Gerlach. I'd never heard of this guy, but through that magical google thing I found out he rode in some pretty impressive circles. Julian Dean, Scott Moninger, Jonathan Vaughters, Bobby Julich, and Lance Armstrong. Then his temper got him kicked off U.S. Postal Service (the team Lance won 6 of 7 tours on) and a bunch of other well known teams (Navigators, Sierra Nevada, etc..).
So naturally he started smoking crack and living on the streets of Sacramento. He could have easily ended up riding in the Tour de France, and instead he was homeless. Awesome.
Anyways, it was a pretty interesting watch and you can read more about him here;
Elsewhere in cycling, the latest golden boy (Tom Boonen) tested positive for cocaine out of competition. It isn't specifically against the rules but the Tour de France has already announced he won't be invited. Cycling tests more than any other sport on Earth, and is known as a sport full of dopers. I wouldn't be shocked if the majority of athletes in every major sport on that same Earth were using some illegal substance. Woo!